The CDC 2006 National Center for Health Statistics reported 30,136 people were killed in America by gunfire in one year, which averages to more than 82 people a day - or one person killed by a gun every 17 minutes.
The U.S. has the highest rate of deaths from gunfire in the industrialized world, according to statistics shared by Marsha McCartney, president of the Texas Million Mom March. In the last five years, 150,000 people have been killed by a firearm in America, 15,000 of them children and teens.
So, what is being done about it? Locally, at the second Annual Youth Summit, hosted by Central Pointe Church of Christ, youth are stepping up and speaking out by turning in their toy guns in order to promote nonviolence.
“Nonviolence or nonexistence,” was the motto for the two-day summit that started Friday, July 14.
However, the highlight of the event came on Saturday with Martin Luther King III as the keynote speaker for the second time.
Master of Ceremonies Skip Cheatham of K104 and Flava TV kick-started the event by saying, “It’s too much love that we have to share, to worry about violence.”
“We have to get more involved into what our kids are doing. I understand that you work three jobs and may be a single parent, but your kids come first,” Cheatham said.
“The media was all over me when they thought I was involved in the random fights on video. The problem wasn’t the fact that I was accused or the fact that a 17-year-old was producing it, but the fact that it was happening - kids beating up other kids for no reason. We have got to look at the bigger picture.”
A look at the bigger picture is what Rodney Dulin, Associate Minister of Center Pointe focused on. “It’s imperative that our children know they should not be in possession of any type of weapon, especially those fake guns that look like real guns,” he said.
“There was no question that we needed to do this again. We believe that most people walked away from the summit (last year) with a greater sense of purpose and meaning for their lives after listening to King and other presenters,” Dulin said.
And King brought that same passion back to the stage this year, in his attempt to re-ignite the fervor that his father instilled for nonviolence or nonexistence.
Before giving his speech, he sat in tears as he and attendees watched the 10-minute video tribute to the life of his father and mother, Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
After wiping his eyes, King said, “I have seen this video three times now, and each time I get emotional - now more than ever.
“The objective is to focus on violence and yes, we need to get people out to the polls to vote on this issue.
“The House has passed the voter’s rights act and I am sure the Senate will as well. The question is to what level and what strength,” King said, referring to the Voters Rights Act of 1965 on the table of Congress at the time.
“We have to create a consciousness way to get people to vote. With fewer and fewer people voting, it makes a difference. Every election is a major election.
“We are not doing a good enough job to get people to vote. Even this effort here, it is to get more to come out, but we have not educated people enough to the importance of saving our communities.”
King also said the fact that there are no children in the King family yet was not a reason to get discouraged about the King legacy. Laughing, he said, “Hopefully, we will have offspring,” but promised to further establish his father’s legacy so it would continue to inspire others throughout future generations.
“We haven’t even scratched the surface to understanding who Martin Luther King Jr. was. Everyone knows ‘I have a dream,’ but there was so much more. Even though he preached and practiced nonviolence, there was an assertive side to him that enabled us to be where we are today.”
In an effort to preserve the legacy that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King established The King Center in 1968 in Atlanta, Georgia. The center is the official, living memorial dedicated to the advancement of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.
With the future of the center in limbo, King said, “The center will continue to exist whether it’s under federal control or independently controlled, with limited government interactions. Now, I believe that if it remains independent it will potentially have a greater impact on communities everywhere.”
As King looked out at the Black, White, Hispanic and Indian faces looking back at him, he said, “The beauty about being human is that we have the ability to choose. We can choose to do right or do wrong. We have the ability to decide.”